I classify myself as being very lucky. I have the best job in the world, but the most important job is taking care of myself first. I learned the hard way, so I have written this blog in the hope that you can avoid some of the pitfalls and remind you that if you […]
Category: My own addiction
A Rhyme about CHIME
It’s the run-up to recovery month this September. And in the background, the Sheffield Recovery Forum is on a mission to acquire Inclusive recovery city status in 2024. There have been lots of conversations about recovery capital and something called CHIME. So, during my breaks, I came up with this recovery poem based on the […]
Losing and Finding Trust in Recovery
When I first started my recovery journey, it’s fair to say that I had little or no recovery capital I felt powerless, I’d lost my identity, hope and meaning and after walking away from my peers and social networks and life as I knew it, I’d never felt so disconnected. The isolation at times was […]
‘They should have taught us this shit in school, because if they had done maybe I might have spent more time in the classroom instead of standing outside of it’
Discovering myself after Substance Abuse It wasn’t until 18 months after coming out of the mental institution from drug-induced psychosis that my recovery or discovery journey truly began. That being said, looking back, I didn’t have the time or the appropriate support at the time. I’d recently left a coercive and controlling relationship. I was […]
It’s time to talk about Menopause and Addiction in the same sentence.
Disclaimer – This isn’t a pity blog but a call to action based on my experience. My Story My periods and mood swings had plagued me for years before I’d started using drugs. My emotions would fluctuate like a frigging swinging pendulum. One minute I could be calm, collected, and rational; the next, I’d transform […]
What’s in your cup
My cup was always half empty In fact, it was bone dry I would carry the weight of the world on my shoulders And held onto resentments the size of boulders I turned to drugs seeking absolution That was until I started searching for different solutions Instead of blaming everyone else and started […]
If they are your mate they’ll wait
I made some amazing friendships during my using/dealing days but one of the most complex parts in my early recovery was stepping away from some of those friendships. This was made worse by knowing that they weren’t bad people; in fact, it was quite the opposite. They never gave up on me when I fucked […]
Don’t wait until it’s too late
At the time of writing this, I don’t feel sad, I feel angry. It’s always sad when you lose someone, it’s part of life, we all go at some point, but every now and then the loss can hit you hard and this loss is no exception. Yesterday I was contacted out of the blue […]
My problem was never about the drugs, it was me all along
People often ask me ‘how would you describe your recovery journey?’ and I always describe my recovery as being’ like a discovery of the self’. It’s taken a lot of soul searching and self-honesty to be the person that I am today. let me take you back… For years I was preoccupied with trying to […]
Befriending and taming my Evil Twin – aka Ego
Imposter syndrome was the topic of conversation at this week’s MMM writing group. I chuckled to myself because she is someone I know well. I would go as far as to say that I used to refer to her as my evil twin, aka my ego. She would be that little voice in my head […]
